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Three and a half months have flown by and we've had the time to watch and analyse the teams and the players ahead of the festive season and the January Transfer window. While we've seen the likes of Mohamed Salah and Alvaro Morata impressing us, we've also witnessed a few summer signings who have failed to impress.
Here is a list of some of those moves that have not gone according to plan for both player and club:
#5 Jermaine Defoe
One of the Premier League's veteran forwards, Jermaine Defoe showed us that he wasn't finished despite the age of 34, with his performances for an otherwise sultry Sunderland team. Bournemouth took a big punt, bringing the experienced striker to the Vitality. They are also playing him quite a lot, a reported £65000-a-week. But so far, it doesn't look like a move that has borne fruit.
The demons of age seem to have finally caught up with Defoe. His once nimble footwork looks weary and the strength in his leap looks to have gone. At best, Jermaine might be a very experienced presence in the dressing room and a leader sort of figure to use in crunch games.
His eye for goal and finishing might still serve him well, but for the wage he demands and the maintenance required for a player of his level, he isn't worth having at the club.
#4 Davy Klaasen
It looked like Everton had pulled off a coup of a signing when they announced Davy Klaasen's arrival, but it looks more like an Eredivisie signing that followed the trajectory of Vincent Janssen and Memphis Depay rather than Robin van Persie and Christian Eriksen.
On paper, Davy Klaasen looked like a wonderful signing for the now affluent Everton. The captain of a youthful Ajax side that progressed to the Europa League final and finished a close second to Feyenoord in the Eredivisie, an attacking midfielder who stacked up double figures for assists and goals, and a Netherlands international.
Where has it all gone wrong though?
Part of the answer lies in Everton's irresponsible transfer activity, racking up players in a haphazard, unplanned manner. This, plus the poor start to the season which saw Ronald Koeman trying all sorts of formulas to come up with a winning solution, and ultimately getting the sack. The difficulty of adjusting to the physicality of the Premier League amidst all this chaos didn't help the young midfielder.
Definitely talented, Premier League fans are yet to see the best of Klaasen. Age is on his side, and as a neutral football fan, the author hopes that he improves on his woeful start to the season.
#3 Jairo Riedewald
The first signing in what was expected to be Frank De Boer's long reign in charge of Crystal Palace, Jairo Riedewald's purchase made a lot of sense for the Eagles on paper. They had to pay a sum of around £8m to claim one of Ajax's most valuable players. A versatile player, Riedewald could slot in at centre-back, left-back and defensive midfield and was touted as an ideal De Boer player who can play in the flexible style of play Palace was aiming to nail.
What followed afterwards was totally unforeseen. Riedewald was dropped from the side after the 3-0 opening day defeat to Huddersfield and has only started 2 games for Roy Hodgson after Frank De Boer's sacking, both in the Carabao Cup.
Riedewald has been replaced in the starting line up by Mamadou Sakho who was signed later into the summer window and the other spots have been nailed down by more experienced players too as Palace are in a mini-resurgence phase now. Eagles fans are sure disappointed at how this transfer has gone, and the management is clearly not in favour of giving Riedewald a go.
The talented youngster looks like he will be shipped off by Palace as early as possible before his heroics for Ajax and his undoubted potential is forgotten. A definite transfer flop.
#2 Gylfi Sigurdsson
Everton's ridiculous summer spending means that another new signing features in this list. Gylfi Sigurdsson was talismanic at his second spell at Swansea and almost single-handedly dragged them out of relegation last season. Although a lot was spoken about Sigurdsson's price tag of £45m, everyone expected him to continue his consistent run of form at Everton and be the focal point of the Everton revolution under Ronald Koeman. Look how that turned out to be.
Koeman is no longer in charge, Big Sam Allardyce is in charge and Everton are languishing in the bottom half. Not something expected from a club of their stature.
Sigurdsson has struggled for form in Everton colours. A splendid goal in a useless cause against Southampton gave a glimpse of hope, and a second in the 2-0 win against Huddersfield has raised further. If Everton are to turn a corner this season, they need their £45m to deliver the goods consistently as he did at Swansea.
For Sigurdsson, this is his chance to prove himself at a bigger club, following a bad spell at Tottenham prior to his return to Swansea. Things are looking a bit better for Sigurdsson, and Everton fans hope he finally finds his flow and takes the team with it.
#1 Marko Arnautovic
A club record signing from Stoke City, Marko Arnautovic was always a dicey prospect and even the biggest West Ham fans would have had their doubts regarding the quality of the signing. Arnautovic was definitely talented, and on his day he is virtually unplayable, but then again, his inconsistency and his flashes of madness and lack of temperament have always taken over his talent.
Getting sent off for a wild elbow in only his second game when his club needed him to step up is symbolic of West Ham's and Arnautovic's season so far. Both club and player have been underwhelming and have been performing at a level not expected of them considering the talent in there.
The talent is definitely there, but having failed to live up to it at Inter Milan, Stoke City and the other clubs he has plied his trade for, it is fair to say that West Ham took a gamble, and it looks like a failed one if performances to date are the means to weigh his success at the club.
